A tourist submarine that took passengers to the wreckage of the Titanic in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean is missing. The story has captured the attention of people around the world and has some asking Elon Musk if he is able to help.
What Happened: A rescue mission is ongoing by the U.S. Coast Guard and other units to find a deep-sea submersible vehicle called Titan.
Titan lost contact with its research vessel Polar Prince Sunday morning. The dive was organized by private research and tourism company OceanGate Expeditions, a company that completed several Titanic dives in the past two years. OceanGate charges and estimated $250,000 per person to take part in the deep ocean trip.
The missing vessel has enough oxygen to last through Thursday according to reports, making current timely rescue efforts of the utmost importance.
On Wednesday, reports of underwater noises being heard in the search area sparked hope in the rescue mission. The noises were announced by the U.S. Coast Guard, which is attempting to find the location the sounds are coming from.
A Twitter post by OceangGate on June 1 is drawing attention from the public and has questions rising if Elon Musk can provide assistance.
A June 1 tweet stated OceanGate was using Starlink, the satellite internet company owned by Musk’s SpaceX.
OceanGate said previously that it used Statlink service for its adventures in the Atlantic Ocean.
With reports that contact was lost by OceanGate and Titan, some are wondering if Musk and Starlink can help provide any clues.
Musk and SpaceX did not respond to comment requests by The Independent. Users on Twitter have asked Musk in recent days with no public responses.
On Wednesday, Musk offered his first comments related to the missing sub. Fact-checking website Snopes shared the question of “Was the missing Titanic submersible using satellites from Elon Musk’s company?” Snopes said it was true that the sub was using Starlink but it was unknown “how much Starlink is responsible.”
Musk replied to a user sharing the Snopes report saying “Snopes is a con.” Musk also replied directly to the Snopes report saying, “You can’t even run a good psy op.”
There is no evidence that Starlink can help and some users on Twitter said the internet satellite is not likely to work underwater, especially considering the depths Titan was headed for.
Related Link: RMS Titanic Relics Turned Into NFTs In Web3 Project
Why It’s Important: CBS News reporter David Pogue previously shared the story of OceanGate and its dives to the wreckage. Pogue said that during his original story reporting, the underwater vessel was lost for five hours.
Pogue was on the command vessel and said the crew in the underwater vessel and on the support ship were able to text each other.
“To be clear, I was not on the sub that day — I was on the ship at the surface, in the control room. They could still send short texts to the sub, but did not know where it was,” Pogue said.
OceanGate has not responded to media requests for more details on why they can’t communicate to the underwater vessel on the current trip.
Starlink expanded its offerings to include internet coverage for airlines, cruise ships, RVs and sea vessels, providing access across land, sea and air.
Musk provided Starlink satellites for Ukraine in their ongoing war effort against Russia.
The billionaire also previously offered to help in rescue efforts for young soccer players stuck in a cave in Thailand.
While the details remain scarce, it seems unlikely that Musk would not offer to help if he was able to.
Read Next: Could SpaceX Or Starlink Be Nearing An IPO? A Recently Passed Milestone Could Be A Clue
Photos: Shutterstock (Right photo: Polar Prince towing OceanGate Expeditions submersible vessels, 5/29/23)
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